WoW revenue down 54% in seven months

[Anubis]

while on the topic of bitching Wrath specifically ulduar was the pinicle of their raid design, it ssolved the issues of mouth breathers being able to clear content as the non hard modes were easy and if you wanted a challange you changed something about the enounter that made it harder. no stupid toggle switch

the beleif that everyone should clear hardmodes is what caused the downfall

 

[chadashcroft22]

I started to play during vanilla and man was wow a completely different game then compared to now. It was so much better back then because you had world pvp, world bosses, epic gear that was actually epic, gold meant something, end game raiding was hard, pvp gear was earned and time invested was rewarded.

Now as long as you have a blood pulse you get free epics. There is no community because everything is being linked up from all realms. Gold has little to no value because of inflation and rampant botting. I mean how can this be fun even for casuals? They see the shiny purples but everybody gets them and nobody cares because everybody is wearing the same exact gear.

And they can't fix the problem of making the casual friendly game hard again. Cata epic failure anyone? The problem they face now is casuals are least likely to put out a steady 15 bucks a month when they have nothing to feel special about. They will be happy for a short time and move right to the next game that comes out.

I hope eq next is as hardcore as vanilla wow was.

 

[smackababy]

I hope eq next is as hardcore as vanilla wow was.

If you want the game to actually last longer than Star Trek Online, I wouldn't hope for that. If it takes months of playing every day to hit max level and then months of grinding gear to even start doing end game content, 99% of the people who would play it, won't.

With the availability of games and the popularity of them, MMOs are competing for the gamers ever limited time. You can make the game excessible enough that it doesn't require significant time investment an alienate a small, very vocal, minority and have success, or you don't and fail.

while on the topic of bitching Wrath specifically ulduar was the pinicle of their raid design, it ssolved the issues of mouth breathers being able to clear content as the non hard modes were easy and if you wanted a challange you changed something about the enounter that made it harder. no stupid toggle switch

the beleif that everyone should clear hardmodes is what caused the downfall

Ulduar was still a failure. It was harder than Naxx (and required Naxx gear) and the non Hardmodes still couldn't be done by the majority of players. The trash in some of the areas was too hard for most players. Plus, Yogg (even 4 light) had mechanics 99% of the community couldn't grasp.

 

[lupi]

I'd be happy if they just ditched all the different raid modes and just went with a little more difficult LFR capable version. As far as taking in money, they get much more from the non-hardcore crew and god only knows how much is being wasted in terms of development resources with them havng to now tune 8 raid versions for every raid.

 

[Anubis]

If you want the game to actually last longer than Star Trek Online, I wouldn't hope for that. If it takes months of playing every day to hit max level and then months of grinding gear to even start doing end game content, 99% of the people who would play it, won't.

With the availability of games and the popularity of them, MMOs are competing for the gamers ever limited time. You can make the game excessible enough that it doesn't require significant time investment an alienate a small, very vocal, minority and have success, or you don't and fail.

Ulduar was still a failure. It was harder than Naxx (and required Naxx gear) and the non Hardmodes still couldn't be done by the majority of players. The trash in some of the areas was too hard for most players. Plus, Yogg (even 4 light) had mechanics 99% of the community couldn't grasp.

5 mans were harder than naxx. blizz even admitted they made it too easy. naxx got pugged all the time on our server with the exception of KT you could sleep through it. no reason people should not have had gear for uld when it came out if they had been playing right along

 

[smackababy]

5 mans were harder than naxx. blizz even admitted they made it too easy. naxx got pugged all the time on our server with the exception of KT you could sleep through it. no reason people should not have had gear for uld when it came out if they had been playing right along

Which is another huge failure they try to combat with "welfare epics" and the elites get upset. If you didn't start raiding at or near the start of the expansion, the content after the beginning raid was inaccessible and nobody did it anymore. If you didn't start in Kara, you weren't doing SSC, and then you weren't doing Hyjal, TK, or Black Temple. And WotLK was worse. If you didn't start with Nax, but the time ToC came out, you weren't doing Ulduar or Nax because nobody else was (at least not until the weekly came out). Eventually, only ICC was getting PUG'd on a regular basis with guild selling drakes from Ulduar.

 

[pathos]

Imo, yes, wow is on the way down. Eventually, it will go either ftp, or gone completely. But, when you are as successful as WoW has been over the years, hitting rock bottom is an extremely large fall.

So far, they've lost more money and revenue than most mmo's ever capture in the first place, and they are still quite huge, and comfortably making money. WoW hitting the bug zapper won't be for a few years to come, in my estimation.

I'm really of 2 minds. I got alot of mileage from the game, even though I no longer play it. And I sort of hate to see it finally on the down slope.

On the other hand, I quit last time after getting my fill of cataclysm. Nothing about the newest expansion looked even slightly interesting. And, the thought of reupping my account makes my head hurt. I can't ever see myself playing ever again. I'd sort of like all the WoW subscribers move on to new mmo's, giving some other developers money

But, then again, I'm thinking alot of people playing WoW, wouldn't automatically try out another mmo, if they did quit wow.

 

[clok1966]

money. WoW hitting the bug zapper won't be for a few years to come, in my estimation.

I'm really of 2 minds. I got alot of mileage from the game, even though I no longer play it. And I sort of hate to see it finally on the down slope.

I'm an addict.. I quit for a year and then go back for a month or two, inhale all the new stuff and go cold turkey again.. or I just start a New toon.. I have at least 10-15 level 70 geared toons (or was it 75? for Northrend, damn i cant remember) I have more fun doing the early stuff then the lame stand in line till you get your drop instance runs.. of course low level runs are pretty sad. people who cant stand if a run takes 15 minutes instead of 5.. My GF (now ex) wanted to play.. as a 100% noob she was shit on so hard it was ugly, no help at all, no patience, nothing.. I looked at the tells and party talk.. NO NOOB would ever play this game with the player base it has. I played with here duo some and she liked it, even after breaking up she has asked to play WoW with me again.. (strange)...

Wow is too easy nowadays, but no new blood will ever play it with the crap they get from the 12 years old (mentally) playing it now, its uglier then Barrens chat in the early years..

 

[BoberFett]

People buy mobile phones every 2 years. TV's every 5. Cars every 5. Etc.

Why is 7 year old hardware suddenly a stroke of genius? Who has a computer that old and plays video games online?

Who invests money into a monthly paid subscription but can't afford to upgrade their computer every 3 years or so?

It doesn't have to be bleeding edge all the time. The problem is that the game pretty much looks the same that it did on release. They changed the water and a few things but that's it.]

To make matters worse you have the game play but that's for others to argue.

How are all those "modern" MMOs doing compared to WoW? Oh, they're all shutting down after a few months? I guess maybe you don't have a clue.

 

[Veliko]

I started to play during vanilla and man was wow a completely different game then compared to now. It was so much better back then because you had world pvp, world bosses, epic gear that was actually epic, gold meant something, end game raiding was hard, pvp gear was earned and time invested was rewarded.

Now as long as you have a blood pulse you get free epics. There is no community because everything is being linked up from all realms. Gold has little to no value because of inflation and rampant botting. I mean how can this be fun even for casuals? They see the shiny purples but everybody gets them and nobody cares because everybody is wearing the same exact gear.

And they can't fix the problem of making the casual friendly game hard again. Cata epic failure anyone? The problem they face now is casuals are least likely to put out a steady 15 bucks a month when they have nothing to feel special about. They will be happy for a short time and move right to the next game that comes out.

I hope eq next is as hardcore as vanilla wow was.

It's amusing when people talk about how 'hardcore' vanilla WoW was, when in the grand scheme of things it was anything but that.

WoW, right from the get go, has always been the 'casual' MMO.

And it isn't the casuals that you refer to who need to feel special, it's the so-called hardcore players who crave that... as evidenced by your complaint about free epics.

 

[smackababy]

It's amusing when people talk about how 'hardcore' vanilla WoW was, when in the grand scheme of things it was anything but that.

WoW, right from the get go, has always been the 'casual' MMO.

And it isn't the casuals that you refer to who need to feel special, it's the so-called hardcore players who crave that... as evidenced by your complaint about free epics.

People thought Vanilla WoW was hardcore because they hadn't experience UO. >_>

 

[Veliko]

People thought Vanilla WoW was hardcore because they hadn't experience UO. >_>

Exactly.

"WoW is catering to the casuals and will fail" claimed all the experts prior to its launch in 2004.

 

[Anubis]

Which is another huge failure they try to combat with "welfare epics" and the elites get upset. If you didn't start raiding at or near the start of the expansion, the content after the beginning raid was inaccessible and nobody did it anymore. If you didn't start in Kara, you weren't doing SSC, and then you weren't doing Hyjal, TK, or Black Temple. And WotLK was worse. If you didn't start with Nax, but the time ToC came out, you weren't doing Ulduar or Nax because nobody else was (at least not until the weekly came out). Eventually, only ICC was getting PUG'd on a regular basis with guild selling drakes from Ulduar.

i never got upset about the welfare stuff. and it honestly solved a lot of issues, the valor or whatever points to get people decent gear through other means besides raiding was fine, cpl that with the LFR to backfill old content keeping the ulduar type model would have worked fine. however then went and made a mess of things in cata

 

[smackababy]

i never got upset about the welfare stuff. and it honestly solved a lot of issues, the valor or whatever points to get people decent gear through other means besides raiding was fine, cpl that with the LFR to backfill old content keeping the ulduar type model would have worked fine. however then went and made a mess of things in cata

I never made it past WotLK. Another big issue is you have to buy the expansions, even if just to play the newest one. For a new player, that is ridiculous. New accounts should be able to buy the base game ($20 or so) and the latest expansion to get all the new content or something. Sure, that "hurts" old players, but I would assume a lot of their lost revenue is due to a lack of new players. Who wants to buy a Battlechest with WoW, BC, WotLK then buy another 3 expansions? They should have went to a standalone and an expansion for existing players model or something.

 

[Veliko]

I never made it past WotLK. Another big issue is you have to buy the expansions, even if just to play the newest one. For a new player, that is ridiculous. New accounts should be able to buy the base game ($20 or so) and the latest expansion to get all the new content or something. Sure, that "hurts" old players, but I would assume a lot of their lost revenue is due to a lack of new players. Who wants to buy a Battlechest with WoW, BC, WotLK then buy another 3 expansions? They should have went to a standalone and an expansion for existing players model or something.

I'm almost certain that they've done something like this - the price for a new player works out that vanilla and maybe even Burning Crusade are essentially free.

 

[justoh]

Usually at the time of a new expansion they offer the previous at a discount, which is usually the time when new players might be enticed to give it a whirl. When MOP came out I remember them selling the previous expacs for $5 and cata for $10. I also recall getting free upgrades with scroll of res. I had an account with only tbc and after receiving a scroll had everything up to and including cata, only having to buy mop.

Still, their sales only last about a week and it's easy to miss.

There still aren't any real alternatives to wow anyway. WoW might be crap but everything else is worse.

Going f2p would be madness.

 

[lupi]

They've slowly added older expansions to the base package. Think wrath is the latest free currently. And with sales you can buy all of them as a new player for no more than $60.

 

[Anubis]

yea they did change it so the older stuff was free, this didnt happen until cata im pretty sure. I was quite annoyed during wrath that i had to buy the base game + TBC + wrath to get a 2nd acount

 

[iahk]

They run alot of deals to ease it up on returning players on their digital store. So right now, the base battle chest has expansions up to WOTLK. Cataclysm being separate. As well as MOP. When I resubbed (last played during wotlk), I got cataclysm and mop for $39.99 so essentially cataclysm was free. I assume this was a promo.

Also, if someone throws a scroll of resurrection at you, you get cataclysm upgrade for free. I've also read instances of blizzard mailing players hardcopies of mop enticing them to resub. Not sure how often they do this.

 

[Veliko]

Usually at the time of a new expansion they offer the previous at a discount, which is usually the time when new players might be enticed to give it a whirl. When MOP came out I remember them selling the previous expacs for $5 and cata for $10. I also recall getting free upgrades with scroll of res. I had an account with only tbc and after receiving a scroll had everything up to and including cata, only having to buy mop.

Still, their sales only last about a week and it's easy to miss.

There still aren't any real alternatives to wow anyway. WoW might be crap but everything else is worse.

I'm enjoying Guild Wars 2 at the moment. There's no raiding but the world feels far more dynamic and interactive. In PvE/questing there'll be sections of the maps that are constantly under war between two groups - centaurs and humans for example - and you can join in whenever you want. If the centaurs have the camp, then you can join in when the humans attack. If the humans have it, you can help out with the defence.

Quests work very differently as well, in that there pretty much aren't any in the traditional sense. You'll just have areas that need tasks doing - killing undead, blocking up tunnels, making potions, etc. - and once you've done enough the 'quest' is done.

The entire experience is so much more fluid.

 

[nageov3t]

making 10-man and 25-man raids equivilent was probably the final nail in the coffin for me... every guild on my server (and most guilds across the game) went 10-man only.

from the beginning, I just never really enjoyed the 10-man thing. just ended up feeling a bit too clique-y with either obvious A and B teams in the guild or people having to sit out on the sidelines frequently.

I mean, I kept playing after that, but that was the end of raiding... and after I stopped raiding, that ended the feeling like I had to login every day (or at least on raid nights). once that happened, I just went longer and longer between log-ins till one day I realized that I hadn't been logged into the game in weeks and I may as well just cancel my subscription.

canceled in Cat and came back to experience the MoP expansion, but I'm not sure I'll come back for the next expansion.

I doubt WoW will ever truly die (at least not in the near future, though I could see them finally sucking it up and doing server merges till they're down to just a small handful of servers), but I hope Blizzard realized that every MMO has a popularity lifespan and have a sequel in the pipe.

 

[chadashcroft22]

It's amusing when people talk about how 'hardcore' vanilla WoW was, when in the grand scheme of things it was anything but that.

WoW, right from the get go, has always been the 'casual' MMO.

And it isn't the casuals that you refer to who need to feel special, it's the so-called hardcore players who crave that... as evidenced by your complaint about free epics.

First off I was comparing old wow with new wow it's obvious that mmos before it where more hardcore. Second that is exactly a casuals pov thinking they deserve everything because they pay a monthly fee too.

It's absurd to think that somebody that is a hard mode dedicated raider doing 10+ hours a night raid progression should get the basically same gear as a brain dead moron rolling his face on his keyboard in lfr. I mean why even call it epic when all you do is hand it out to everybody and everything.

Just remember when a casual can get geared in welfare epics from head to toe in a matter of days do you think they are gonna stay around for the long term? Look at how drastically the sub base is leaving this game and you will find your answer there.

 

[Veliko]

First off I was comparing old wow with new wow it's obvious that mmos before it where more hardcore. Second that is exactly a casuals pov thinking they deserve everything because they pay a monthly fee too.

It's absurd to think that somebody that is a hard mode dedicated raider doing 10+ hours a night raid progression should get the basically same gear as a brain dead moron rolling his face on his keyboard in lfr. I mean why even call it epic when all you do is hand it out to everybody and everything.

Just remember when a casual can get geared in welfare epics from head to toe in a matter of days do you think they are gonna stay around for the long term? Look at how drastically the sub base is leaving this game and you will find your answer there.

What an utterly infantile response.

Three seperate hissy fits, two strawman arguments, and one ignorant observation about why a game that is nearly ten years old isn't as popular as it used to be.

 

[BoberFett]

I got the base + BC + WotLK for $20 (I think), bought Cata a month or two ago when Blizzard had the digital download on sale for $10, and until tomorrow MoP is on sale for $20 digital. Thinking about getting it for me and the kid.

 

[BoberFett]

Am I playing a different game than some of you? I'm level 85 and have a few epics that I got from Cata quests or from Hyjal vendors. But apparently there are epic vendors that I haven't found yet. I've been using the group finder to do random Cata dungeons and get the occasional blue upgrade to the quest green I have. I've tried some Heroic Cata dungeons and had mixed success. Some groups are decent, others wipe repeatedly because the tank won't keep stuff off my resto Shaman. Apparently there are certain dungeons where you can just stand there and get epics showered on you without trying. Please let me know which ones.

I've started saving up Justice points to start buying some stuff from the quartermasters, but you have to seriously grind dungeons to get those points. Clearly there must be a trick that I haven't found to get the same gear as raiders after just a couple days.

Maybe there's a welfare office in Goldshire that I haven't found yet?